Parents Newshttp://blog.smu.edu/parents
Mon, 23 Mar 2015 14:42:41 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1SMU receives $45 million gift from the Meadows Foundationhttp://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/23/smu-receives-45-million-gift-from-the-meadows-foundation/
http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/23/smu-receives-45-million-gift-from-the-meadows-foundation/#commentsMon, 23 Mar 2015 14:39:33 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/parents/?p=2781Continue reading →]]>The Meadows Foundation, Inc. has pledged $45 million to SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and the Meadows Museum, the largest single gift in SMU history. With this commitment, The Meadows Foundation has provided more than $100 million to the University since 1995.

Meadows Museum with “Wave” (2002), the first large-scale sculpture by Santiago Calatrava to be permanently installed in the United States.

“SMU has enjoyed a long and productive partnership with The Meadows Foundation, one initiated by Algur H. Meadows himself through the endowment of the Meadows School and the creation of the Meadows Museum,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “The resulting collaboration has enhanced the lives of thousands of students, faculty and members of the local, regional and international communities. This year, as we celebrate both the 50th anniversary of the Meadows Museum and the centennial of SMU’s opening, we are honored to accept a gift that will continue this extraordinary partnership.”

The $45 million gift, the largest in The Meadows Foundation’s history, includes $25 million to support goals and programs at the Meadows Museum, which houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. The gift designates $13 million for exhibitions, education programs and initiatives; $6 million for acquisitions; and $6 million for an acquisition challenge grant. In addition, the gift will help the Museum expand relationships with international cultural institutions and enhance its reputation as the center for Spanish art in the United States.

The Meadows Foundation gift also designates $20 million to the Meadows School of the Arts to support its goal to lead the nation in arts education. The funding will be used to attract and retain top faculty and students, create and maintain innovative programs of national importance and provide enhanced studio, gallery and state-of-the-art classroom spaces. The gift designates $12 million for facility enhancements, including a $10 million challenge grant, and $8 million for student and faculty recruitment and retention, as well as new strategic initiatives.

]]>http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/23/smu-receives-45-million-gift-from-the-meadows-foundation/feed/0Thanks, Mustangs, for a great season!http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/20/congratulations-mustangs/
http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/20/congratulations-mustangs/#commentsFri, 20 Mar 2015 15:35:28 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/parents/?p=2770Continue reading →]]> The SMU Men’s Basketball team brought great pride and excitement to the Hilltop all season long, making it all the way to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993.

]]>http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/20/congratulations-mustangs/feed/0President George W. Bush to speak at Commencementhttp://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/06/president-george-w-bush-to-speak-at-commencement/
http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/06/president-george-w-bush-to-speak-at-commencement/#commentsFri, 06 Mar 2015 15:25:13 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/parents/?p=2768Continue reading →]]>George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, will deliver the address at SMU’s Commencement ceremony Saturday, May 16, in Moody Coliseum on the main campus.

“This Commencement is especially noteworthy because 2015 is the 100-year anniversary of SMU’s opening. So it is fitting that we should hear from a president who led our nation and the world during historic times and is a valued member of the campus community,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner.

SMU expects to award more than 2,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees in the University-wide ceremony.

This is the first time that an SMU Commencement speaker has returned for a second presentation. Mr. Bush’s first Commencement speech at SMU was in 1999, when he was governor of Texas.

George W. Bush has been a long-time member of the SMU family through his marriage to Laura, an SMU alumna, who is currently a member of the SMU Board of Trustees. However, since his 2007 decision to locate his Presidential Center at SMU, he has become an active member of the University community, attending events and visiting classes.

“The Presidential Center and SMU are enjoying numerous partnerships through joint programming and faculty research as well as internships for SMU students,” Turner said. “Through the Center, more than 700,000 people have visited SMU, most of whom never before would have come to our campus. We are grateful for the resources and benefits of the Presidential Center and President Bush’s participation as Commencement speaker during this special time.”

George W. Bush received his bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. After a successful career in business, including as an owner of the Texas Rangers, he was elected governor of Texas in 1994. When he was re-elected in November 1998, he became the first governor in Texas history to be elected to consecutive four-year terms. He is the author of two New York Times number one bestsellers, Decision Points and 41: A Portrait of my Father.

Following the University-wide Commencement, SMU’s schools and departments will hold individual ceremonies throughout the day to present degrees and honor graduates.

]]>http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/06/president-george-w-bush-to-speak-at-commencement/feed/0SMU Inclement Weather Policyhttp://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/04/smu-inclement-weather-policy-2/
http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/04/smu-inclement-weather-policy-2/#commentsWed, 04 Mar 2015 20:10:16 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/parents/?p=2723Continue reading →]]>It is the goal of SMU to remain open and hold classes as scheduled. However, if conditions warrant closing, the President in consultation with the SMU Police and the Provost will make that decision. Individual schools, colleges and departments are not authorized to make their own decisions on closings, delayed openings or cancellation of classes.

As soon as a decision is made, the following steps are taken to notify the university community:

An e-mail message will be sent to all students, faculty and staff.

A recorded message will be available at 214-SMU-INFO (214-768-4636). Please do not call the SMU Police Department.

Additionally, the Office of News and Communications will attempt to contact the news media by 6 a.m. if day classes must be cancelled. If it becomes necessary to cancel evening classes or events, News and Communications will attempt to contact the news media by 4 p.m.

SMU cannot guarantee that local media will announce closing information promptly or fully. Therefore, confirm information from non-SMU sources against official University communications.

SMU’s goal is to maintain the normal operations and educational processes of the University while remaining sensitive to safety concerns. Therefore, if SMU remains open, faculty, students and staff should report to their classrooms or offices as usual. If someone lives in an area that is affected by bad weather and feels that travel to campus would be an unreasonable safety risk, that individual should contact his or her supervisor or department head to discuss possible options, and students should contact their professors in advance. For staff members, an absence when SMU is officially open can be taken as vacation leave. Emergency service personnel are expected to report to work in any case to keep essential services and operations functioning.

Dining Services on the main SMU campus:

Dining services will be available even when the University closes because of inclement weather. For information about hours of operation for SMU Dining Services, please see: www.smudining.com
orwww.facebook.com/smudining

Separate decisions regarding closings or cancellations will be made for the Plano and Taos campuses. Those campuses are not automatically affected when the main campus is closed, or they may be closed when the main campus is not, depending on local conditions.

]]>http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/04/smu-inclement-weather-policy-2/feed/0SMU celebrates 50 years of Women’s Symposiumhttp://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/02/smu-celebrates-50-years-of-womens-symposium/
http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/02/smu-celebrates-50-years-of-womens-symposium/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 17:23:46 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/parents/?p=2754Continue reading →]]>The SMU Women’s Symposium will celebrate its 50th anniversary Wednesday, March 4, with an examination of women’s progress through the last 50 years.

Lilly Ledbetter, namesake of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and an advocate for gender wage equality, will present at noon a keynote address about her 10-year battle for pay equality at Goodyear Tire and Rubber.

“Lilly Ledbetter represents women using their voices to create change,” says Karen Click, director of SMU’s Women and LBGT Center. “We’ve been inspired by that for 50 years and hope that we continue, as women, to examine our voices and use them.”

The symposium is open to the public and will take place from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at SMU’s Hughes-Trigg Student Center, 3140 Dyer St. Visit smu.edu/womsym for registration.

More than 600 attendees are expected to attend SMU Women’s Symposium, created in 1966 as part of the University’s commemoration of its 50th anniversary. Now the longest running event of its kind, the student-led symposium has challenged, changed and broadened women’s perspectives on campus and in the community.

]]>http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/02/smu-celebrates-50-years-of-womens-symposium/feed/0Mustang Minute: Have a Heart for a Vethttp://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/02/mustang-minute-have-a-heart-for-a-vet/
http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/02/mustang-minute-have-a-heart-for-a-vet/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 17:20:05 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/parents/?p=2752 The Military Veterans of SMU (MilVets) sponsored a cupcake sale on Valentine’s Day for the SMU community. Watch this SMU Mustang Minute video to learn more about this student organization.
]]>http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/03/02/mustang-minute-have-a-heart-for-a-vet/feed/0Mustang Minute: SMU Career and Internship Fairhttp://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/02/16/mustang-minute-smu-career-and-internship-fair/
http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/02/16/mustang-minute-smu-career-and-internship-fair/#commentsMon, 16 Feb 2015 17:03:01 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/parents/?p=2719Continue reading →]]>Students had the opportunity to meet with more than 90 employers representing a range of industries at the February 10 Career and Internship Fair sponsored by SMU’s Hegi Family Career Development Center.

]]>http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/02/05/mustang-minute-big-ideas-demo-day/feed/0SMU receives Top 25 rankings in Princeton Review’s 2015 “Colleges That Pay You Back”http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/02/04/smu-receives-top-25-rankings-in-princeton-reviews-2015-colleges-that-pay-you-back/
http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/02/04/smu-receives-top-25-rankings-in-princeton-reviews-2015-colleges-that-pay-you-back/#commentsWed, 04 Feb 2015 22:35:52 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/parents/?p=2713Continue reading →]]>SMU has been named one of the nation’s best colleges for students seeking outstanding career preparation and networking opportunities, according to The Princeton Review.

The University placed #6 among the Top 25 Best Schools for Internships and #18 among Top 25 Best Alumni Networks. It is one of 200 schools profiled by the education services company in its new book, Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Best Value Colleges and What It Takes to Get In – 2015 Edition (Penguin Random House / Princeton Review, Feb. 3, 2015).

“In this new edition of the book, we recommend the colleges we consider the nation’s best for academics, affordability and career prospects,” The Princeton Review stated in announcing the new rankings. The Review has developed a “Return-on-Education” (ROE) rating to create its list of the 200 colleges it profiles. ROE measures 40 weighted data points in areas such as academics, cost, financial aid, student debt, graduation rates, alumni salaries and job satisfaction.

The Review based its ROE rating on data collected in 2013-14 from its surveys of administrators and students at 650 colleges, plus surveys conducted by PayScale.com through April 2014 of alumni of the same schools.

“An SMU education is a great investment. And while the cost might seem a tad steep on paper, the university really aims to make it affordable for all qualified students,” reads one excerpt from the University’s entry in the new guide. “Inside the classroom, students are greeted by ‘great’ professors who continually ‘take a personal interest in you and push you to reach higher.’ Finally, it’s not just the professors who receive terrific marks. The ‘administration genuinely care[s] about the personal growth of each individual student’ as well.”

In addition, the Review writes, “the school excels at leveraging its prime Dallas location where there are ‘ample internship [and job] opportunities.’ It also manages to attract a number of corporations for its spring job fair…. And fear not; career services ensures that students arrive at the fair prepared. Indeed, they provide interview techniques, resume workshops, networking tutorials and, most important, votes of confidence.”

“We salute and highly recommend Southern Methodist University and all of our Colleges That Pay You Back schools. They stand out for their excellent academics, impressive career preparation services, and affordability to students with need – via comparatively low sticker prices, generous financial aid, or both,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s senior VP/publisher and lead author of the book. “Plus their students graduate with great career prospects.”

]]>http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/02/04/smu-receives-top-25-rankings-in-princeton-reviews-2015-colleges-that-pay-you-back/feed/0Mustang Minute: SMU celebrates Martin Luther King Dayhttp://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/02/02/smu-celebrates-martin-luther-king-day/
http://blog.smu.edu/parents/2015/02/02/smu-celebrates-martin-luther-king-day/#commentsMon, 02 Feb 2015 17:51:52 +0000http://blog.smu.edu/parents/?p=2704Continue reading →]]>SMU honored the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. the week of Jan. 17-22 with community service, a unity walk, participation in the City of Dallas Martin Luther King Day parade and opportunities for discussion. Watch this and other Mustang Minute videos here.

Also, watch SMU alumnus Charles Cox remember his involvement in the day Dr. King spoke at SMU in this video from SMU News’ Myles Taylor.